Aconex inks five-year enterprise deal with Dubai Airports

Mar 1, 2017: Aconex, a provider of global platform connecting teams on construction and engineering projects, has signed a five-year enterprise agreement with Dubai Airports.

Under the agreement, the company will standardise on Aconex solutions to manage virtually all small to medium-sized construction projects that are integral to operations at Dubai International (DXB) and Dubai World Central (DWC).

Dubai Airports, which owns and operates the two major airports, has pursued a vision to become the world's leading airport operator.

Today, DXB is the world's number one airport for international passengers, handling over 83 million in 2016. DWC, which initiated cargo operations in 2010, is currently ranked the 19th busiest hub for international freight traffic by Airports Council International.

In line with Dubai Airports' aggressive growth plans, DXB and DWC are under constant construction. Through 2021, Dubai Airports expects to undertake more than a hundred smaller infrastructure projects.

According to media reports, throughout all projects, the normal airport operations must be maintained with minimal to no impact on passenger and cargo traffic, said a top Dubai Airports official.

The co-ordination and collaboration among many stakeholders - such as Airport Operations, Engineering Services, over 100 individual airlines, customs, immigration, police, fire, and various government bodies - is essential to on-time delivery, passenger experience and increasing airport capacity, remarked development director Lawrence Vincent-Edwards.

"The efficient transfer of project information between stakeholders is a very critical success factor for us," he stated.

"Accordingly, all stakeholders need to be in the loop to ensure operations run smoothly and passenger service is not affected," he added.

After extensive technical and commercial evaluations, Dubai Airports chose Aconex for its broad range of functionality, successful track record with capital projects of all sizes, and familiarity within the regional construction industry and, in particular, the unique project environment that is aviation, said Vincent-Edwards.

Aconex provides a neutral, project-wide collaboration platform for tendering, design reviews, document control, workflows and approvals, change management, analytics and reporting, and other core processes across the project lifecycle.

"Aconex ensures that everybody receives the information at the same time and allows us to track the receipt of information," remarked Vincent-Edwards.

"We can see where the flow of information is being held up and monitor performance such as response times for requests for information (RFIs) and document reviews," he noted.

Aconex Field helps safety and quality inspectors identify and document defects and their precise location through the capture of photos, drawings and geographical references for assignment to subcontractors.

The result is faster, more efficient defect resolution and close-out.

Henry Jones, senior VP at Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) and global accounts at Aconex, said the challenge of operating airports of this size through non-stop construction requires control of all processes and data flow."

"We are pleased with the opportunity to partner with Dubai Airports in achieving this goal," he added.